BHHM Articles

The Domino Effect of Innovation

At a recent long-term care provider meeting sponsored by the Department of Health & Senior Services, Baptist Homes & Healthcare Ministries was commended for innovation through the Senior Deer Hunt initiative.  A week later, I had the privilege of leading a presentation at the LeadingAge annual meeting on “Outside the Box Activities for Seniors”, highlighting the ripple effect of positive change these hunts have provided that exceeded our original ambitions.

This season marks the third year for the senior hunts at Arcadia Valley, Ozark, and Ashland. 2024 is the second year of the hunts at the Tri-County campus in Vandalia. New this year will be the addition of team member hunts. A single deer provides an average of 40 pounds of ground meat (used like hamburger), 10 pounds of prime cuts (the filet mignon of venison), and 15 pounds of roasts. The goal of the new team member hunts is to provide a memorable experience in God’s creation with a seasoned colleague and the hoped-for blessing of locally sourced protein for their family. Having team member hunts aligns with Baptist Homes Strategic Initiative #2, Supporting Employee Retention.

One unexpected benefit of the senior hunts has been the support of churches and individuals. Generally, 10-20 volunteers support each hunt. Their involvement includes planting wildlife plots that benefit all critters, mentoring residents and team members who are new to hunting, leading the required training in conservation, hunting ethics, deer biology, and safety, along with assisting with the setup and takedown of ADA-accessible hunting blinds. When animals are harvested, volunteers provide the needed support in getting the meat from the field to the freezer.

Many of these volunteers continue to communicate with residents long after the hunts. Baptist Homes is truly blessed to enjoy the support of churches and individuals who share their time and talents to enrich the lives of our team members and neighbors. Some domino effects of the hunts have been fishing tournaments, the stocking of a pond for fishing at Ashland, and expanded gardening opportunities at several campuses.

Volunteer opportunities at Baptist Homes are nearly unlimited. Whether it is taking a walk with a resident or reading the Bible to a new neighbor, the common feedback from volunteers echoes the words of Luke 6:38, “Give, and it will be given to you; a good measure—pressed down, shaken together, and running over—will be poured into your lap.”

It is likely that every reader has a gift, talent, interest or ability that could be leveraged to make a senior’s day brighter. I pray that you will consider how you might steward your talents to bring about a domino effect of blessings for the aging.

 

Together in His service,
Dr. Rodney Harrison

President/CEO

Baptist Homes Benevolence History: Part Two

Baptist Homes Benevolence History: Part Two

By Dr. Ron Mackey

In this second article exploring the benevolent history of Baptist Homes, we will explore the growth of our benevolent ministry and how that growth became overwhelming.

As The Home moved forward from bankruptcy, two major initiatives were given priority. First, repay all creditors to protect the reputation of the ministry. Second, secure the future of the ministry by reserving all undesignated gifts for the benevolent needs of the ministry. As the years progressed, significant effort was given to develop and grow these benevolent reserves.

Like the proverbial snowball rolling down the mountain, benevolence became the overwhelming focus of The Home. More than planning for maintaining aging buildings, addressing changing societal modes of care for the aging, or participating in the public safety net to protect the poor and the aging, The Home was singularly focused on raising necessary funds for the care of both current and future residents.

Several plans were devised to fund the benevolent needs of The Home. There were many different fundraising programs, most with modest success. A major emphasis initiated in the 1960’s was the Life Care Contract. The Life Care Contract centered around a trust written by The Home in which a resident’s assets and income were turned over to The Home. The promise of the Life Care Contract was that The Home would provide care for the remainder of a resident’s life. The major drawback was that there was no financial entry point, and the residents’ funds often ran out long before their homegoing. Thus, the Life Care Contract plan was ended in 1985.

Another plan was the Partial Return of Capital, which was developed during the early days of the construction of the campus in Ozark. The Partial Return of Capital was intended to help build independent living duplexes. For an investment of $150,000, a resident could live in the duplex without any further charges other than a small monthly maintenance fee. When the resident was no longer able or willing to live in the duplex, 70% of their initial investment would be returned.  This plan had a couple of problems: the initial monies were used to build the unit, so reserve funds would have to be used to repay the 70%, and there was no limit to the tenure of residency. Therefore, a resident could live in the unit for any length of time and still be returned 70% of their initial investment.

Another issue impacting the cost of benevolent care was increasing regulations which led to increased costs. Even though The Home was not a participant in the state and federal safety net programs of Medicaid and Medicare, we were still regulated and inspected by the state and federal agencies as any other long-term care provider.

By the mid-1980’s, The Home began to see a problem with funding benevolence and began to consider ways to address the issue. In 1988, The Home established a Long-Range Planning Task Force which identified benevolence as one of five major issues that ‘must’ be addressed. In June 1994, Ed Goodwin, then-president of The Home, reported benevolent expenditure had “grown significantly” despite this initial effort to control the cost (The Story of The Baptist Home, p.210).

This process began a lengthy effort to address benevolent costs with limits being placed on the total expenditures for benevolence. Beginning with the Larry Johnson administration (1997-2005), benevolence expenditures were set at no more than 50% of the annual budget. During the Steve Jones administration (2006 – 2019), benevolence was set at 30% of the annual budget. During the initial stages of Dr. Rodney Harrison’s administration (2020 – present), benevolence was set at 20% and then 10% of the annual budget.

These efforts to control benevolent spending were met with the strong headwinds of rising costs, decreased assets and income of residents, and increased life expectancy of our residents. In 1995, the average benevolent cost per benevolent resident was $13,800. By 2022, that figure had ballooned to $59,136. In 1995, the average benevolent resident was able to pay for 77% of the cost of their care. By 2022, the average benevolent resident was able to pay only 23% of the cost of their care. This trend line was proving unsustainable, and serious and significant measures needed to be addressed. By 2022, we had expended more monies than ever before on fewer residents than ever before.

Next time … a time for hard analysis and seeking a path forward.

Baptist Homes Benevolence History — A Complicated Story

Baptist Homes Benevolence History – A Complicated Story

By Dr. Ron Mackey, Vice President of Community Engagement

Recent and long overdue decisions by our board of trustees have dealt with the issue of how Baptist Homes funds the cost of care for our residents. For the next several editions of the My Home Digital Newsletter, I will be addressing the background of these decisions, the necessity of these decisions, and the hope for the stabilizing impact of these decisions upon Baptist Homes’ future as we seek to become the Christlike standard of care for the aging.

A Brief History…

A young pastor and his family, Dr. Milford & Mary Riggs, came to the Arcadia Valley in 1912 to become the pastor of First Baptist Church of Ironton, MO. It was during this tenure that an earlier dream would become reality as the Riggs began what was then known as the Missouri Home for Aged Baptists. This vision was driven by a need Dr. Riggs became aware of as he traveled around the state of Missouri.

“After ministering, preaching and serving the Baptist denomination all of their lives, many elderly preachers were reduced to the meagerest lives and impoverished circumstances. If they were lucky, they have living children to take them in; many had no family left and were dependent upon the churches” … “or worse, they were wards of the local County Farm or “poor farm”. (The Story of The Baptist Home, pp. 14-15)

There was no social safety net to care for the aging, especially those without family or resources, so the only way for The Home to properly care for these aging seniors was to raise the money and pay for the cost of their care through what came to be known as benevolence. Balancing the need for care and the cost of that care has always been a challenge for Baptist Homes. Dr. Riggs went to great lengths explaining the mission of the ministry, even to the extent of admonishing the very Baptists who supported the work.

“The Home for Aged Baptists has a mission … when we say the Home is for dependent old members of Missouri Baptist churches, we mean old people who are dependent upon their churches … not … upon their children… Old people who have children to support them are no more dependent upon the charity of the denomination then they would be if they were possessors of a million dollars … We appeal to the churches to protect us against all such applicants, and help us to hold the Home true to the purpose for which it was founded and is being maintained … There is no charity in giving a home to those who have kin to care for them.”  (The Baptist Home, Oct. 1923, p. 27 “The Story”)

The challenge of benevolence became an unsustainable matter as The Home filed for bankruptcy in 1935. The purchase of land and the building of the first buildings for The Home created a tenuous financial burden. This burden became overwhelming with the advent of The Great Depression that devastated the world in the 1930’s. As a result, The Home was foreclosed upon and sold on the Iron County courthouse steps in 1935. By God’s providence, a local businessman who was a member of the Episcopal church, purchased The Home and gave the deed to the then President, Dr. D.J. Scott, with the admonition to continue the work.

Under Dr. D.J. Scott, The Home began the task of rebuilding the ministry financially. One cornerstone element of this task was the commitment that every undesignated gift would go towards the benevolent fund of The Home. This step brought greater stability for many decades for The Home.

Next Month…

Rising benevolent costs, the introduction of outside regulations and attempts to control benevolent costs.

Into the Light

. . . Into the Light

During the summer of 2002, I was on sabbatical in Europe. Having never been outside the Americas, I took 10 days of travel. My poor rental car traversed over 13,000 kilometers in those 10 days as I traversed the autobahns and byways of western Europe.  While driving through hills that resembled the Ozarks, I entered the St. Gotthard tunnel. Mile after mile passed in dimly illuminated confinement. I then saw the proverbial light at the end of the tunnel. Soon, the light grew brighter. The picture of what was before me grew clearer as I approached the exit. I could now see majestic alps and snow-lined peaks before me, and then there was light as I exited the darkness. It was beautiful.

As I shared this story with our leadership team, I recounted my first meeting with our board of trustees in April 2020. During that meeting, I shared with the board that based on what I had seen during my four months as the interim president, The Baptist Home was not sustainable without Medicaid and Medicare.  State-wide, these two sources reimburse 84% of all nursing care. Once a person’s finances are depleted, Medicaid covers nursing care and can provide assistance for Residential Care Facilities (RCF) or Assisted Living Facilities (ALF).

In 2021, Baptist Homes opened its first Medicare/Medicaid campus in Independence. This was and continues to be, a steep learning curve for a 111-year-old ministry that was new to these programs. In 2023, Tri-County was the second campus to be Medicare/Medicaid certified. This past April, Arcadia Valley received Medicaid certification following renovations required for certification.  In July, our Adrian campus opened as a fully certified Medicare/Medicaid facility.

These changes mean the Baptist Homes commitment to providing Christlike care, education, and advocacy is more accessible than ever. Baptist Homes is now able to serve seniors regardless of payor source, be it private pay, long-term care insurance, Medicare stays, or Medicaid. This summer, Arcadia Valley, Independence, and Ozark were approved for RCF/ALF Medicaid assistance. Similar certifications are forthcoming at Adrian, Tri-County, and the soon-to-be-opened Ashland campus.

The path to accessibility has been long and hard, but the light I see is accessible senior care for individuals and married couples who desire to live in a Christ-centered community. Thank you for your prayers and support as this ministry enters a new era of service and accessibility.

 

Together in His service,

Rodney Harrison

Estate Planning & Digital Assets (part two)

Estate Planning and Digital Assets (Part 2)

In last month’s issue of the My Home digital newsletter, we discussed the first steps in gathering information about digital assets and how to prepare to pass on this information to those you trust at death.

What are digital assets? They are usernames and passwords for electronic accounts. They can include photos, videos, emails, and social media accounts. Digital assets can also involve access to bank accounts and cryptocurrency. So, what are some first steps in gathering this information for estate planning?

• Take an inventory of all your digital assets. What online accounts do you have (basic or intricate)? Do you have a list of the electronic hardware that you use such as computers, tablets or smartphones? Do you keep any of them in a secure place that should be noted?
• Document username and password information in a secure place that your attorney or personal representative knows about. What system do you use to remember and log passwords? Maybe you have them written in a special notebook. If so, where can this be found? Do you use an electronic password management system? If so, which one? What is the username and password to this account?
• Designate a trusted individual to have the ability to access your digital assets information in the event of your death. These could be accounts where you pay bills electronically or post social media content. Update your will, trust and power of attorney documents to authorize these individuals to serve as fiduciaries to access your digital assets.
• Do your digital assets have estate plan implications? Ask your attorney, financial adviser or estate planning professional to help you develop a plan that matches your legacy wishes.
• Make your wishes known how you choose for your digital assets to be handled after death. While most funeral homes give families the option to post a loved one’s obituary, a next step question is whether you want your family to post funeral information on your social media account. If so, will they have access to your account to do so? Are there accounts that you want closed or left open? If so, does your family have access to do so? The more detailed instructions you leave, the easier it will be for your family and friends to know what to do and to safeguard your final wishes.

New technologies give us new platforms to stay connected and advance the gospel! Giving permission to proper individuals to access and manage your digital assets after your death should be included in your estate plans. It is another step in being a good steward.

Nick Davis, Director of Advancement

September 2024 Neighbor Spotlight Mildred Chenault

September 2024 Employee Spotlight Russ Spaulding

Russell Spaulding (“Russ”) was recently named the Baptist Homes of Ozark’s August Employee of the Month. Russ works several tasks for our campus in the maintenance department, however, he also helps transport residents to and from their doctor’s appointments. Additionally, he transports our Outbacker residents to their group lunch outing once a month.

Russ has been a part of the Baptist Homes for just short of three years. He enjoys working for the company because it offers him a chance to serve Christ by serving the residents.

Russ lives in Ozark, and even though he has lived elsewhere, he considers himself an Ozarkian. He has been married for 33 years and has two sons. Russ is an avid bicyclist and loves to spend his evenings bicycling. He has even been known to ride his bike to work. On Sundays, he attends James River Church in Ozark.

We thank Russ for his hard work and dedication to the Ozark campus and Baptist Homes.

2024 Neighbor Spotlight Ron Townsend

Ron Townsend

Commitment to Faith & Community

August 2024 Employee Spotlight

Wisdom In These Days

Many of you are aware that Baptist Homes entered into a season of austerity earlier this year. The reason involved the delay in the licensure of several of our homes for Medicare and Medicaid funding. Our plans for growth and service are predicated upon this funding stream.

With the delay in this funding, Baptist Homes entered a period of time in which we reduced personnel expenses. This has involved the elimination of several corporate positions, reduction of corporate salaries, elimination of BHHM contributions to retirement accounts, and temporarily ending holiday pay.

In light of these cutbacks and restrictions, it seems wise to place a hold on our Welcome Home capital campaign. I will be recommending this pause to our full board at our trustee meeting being held on August 2^nd, 2024. If you are still funding your pledge to the campaign, we will continue to gratefully receive those payments and commit them to the campaign.

In addition, we have had significant delays in our skilled memory cottage project at our Ozark campus. Initially, the Department of Health & Senior Services unanimously approved our application for a Certificate of Need. In this approval, they were fully aware that we were planning five individual cottages that would house 12 residents each, and that each cottage would be a standalone building. After spending several months in the design phase of the project between our architectural firm and the architectural department of the DHHS, we moved forward for the final approval. It was at this meeting it was announced that DHSS is no longer approving the small cottage model. There has been little to no explanation of why, only the stipulation that each of the proposed cottages must be connected to the main building on the campus.

Obviously, this drastically alters the scope and cost of our project. We had planned to build the first two cottages with funds already raised and build the remaining three cottages as additional funds were raised. The requirement to build a singular structure has changed the entire project, including site study, architectural plans, and construction cost estimates, and has ballooned the budget from approximately $6 million to nearly $20 million.

As a result, we have been in conversations with the Mabee Foundation concerning the $600,000 challenge grant they approved in July of 2023. We have asked that they rescind that grant and allow us to apply later, once we have determined how to move forward with the Ozark project. The Mabee Foundation has agreed with our request.

The combination of multi-level regulatory challenges and delays have led us to this moment in time. We humbly ask that you join us in prayer for God’s guidance and deliverance during these moments in our history.

 

Dr. Ron Mackey

Vice President of Community Engagement

Estate Planning & Digital Assets

Nick Davis | ndavis@bhhm.org | (573) 822-4319

Thank You Lord, for Our Board

As a stage IV cancer survivor, I have experienced the necessity of taking painful steps in order to live. As a sanctity of life organization, the mission of Baptist Homes & Healthcare Ministries is to provide Christlike care for the aging. The trustees of this ministry are tasked first and foremost with the preservation of this mission, even when it means taking painful but necessary steps to ensure that preservation. This past month, the board took the necessary steps to preserve Baptist Homes.

Over a period of years—if not decades—Baptist Homes slowly slid into an organizational lifecycle stage called the “Death Rattle.” This is the seventh and final stage of organizational existence before going out of business for good. While this phase and the preceding phase, “The Big Rut,” can last for years or even decades, few organizations have the vision or resolve to make the changes needed to maintain relevancy.  Iconic brands such as F.W. Woolworth, Montgomery Wards and TWA all failed to make the necessary changes to survive. For Baptist Homes, entering 2020 without access to Medicare or Medicaid funds, which are the payer source for 84% of long-term care, was a formidable obstacle. Additionally, a kind but unsustainable promise to provide nursing care once one’s funds were exhausted was a growing liability that reached over $3,000,000 per year in unreimbursed care.  Observers on the sidelines would not be expected to grasp the significant challenges this ministry faced. However, our trustees, being faithful to their task, approved initiatives to support a sustainable future. These initiatives included renovations and improvements at Arcadia Valley that allowed the campus to secure Medicaid certification and the acquisition of Medicare and Medicaid certified campuses such as Adrian, Independence and Vandalia.

While I would be remiss not to acknowledge missteps along the way, the board actions these past five years were taken only after an abundance of prayer and planning. The recent decision to discontinue assisted living care at Chillicothe and to sale this campus is an example of a hard decision that needed to be made. Sadly, this campus lost over a million dollars each year. Efforts to update the campus through major renovations in 2023 failed to stem the tide of loss. The heartbreak of hard decisions is not the failure of a dream, rather, it is the impact upon the people.  At the time of the decision to close the campus, Chillicothe had four residents in assisted living and 19 staff members. Some of these team members had faithfully served for over 20 years.  Another decision, the discontinuation of benevolent care, means residents receiving nursing benevolence will be offered the opportunity to move to one of our Medicaid approved campuses at no cost. This change, along with the delay of the opening of the Smithville campus for veterans, and the transition of pastoral care to churches and volunteers, is painful, but necessary.

On July 28, 2017, I underwent my first chemo treatment. As the IV concoction entered my body, it felt like lava flowing into my heart and through my veins. The pain, though masked by sedatives and analgesics, was nearly unbearable.  Before each treatment, my wife and adult children provided encouragement and support that reminded me the pain was just for a season.  A year later, the cancer was in remission and the effects of the treatments were only a memory. In 2022, I was declared “cancer free.” Today, I enjoy vitality and health that are true gifts from God. In His wisdom, the Lord provided a medical team that made right decisions needed for me to survive. In the same way, God has given the Baptist Homes a board of trustees who made the necessary decisions for us to survive.

I hope you will take a moment to pray for our trustees, leadership team, and the beloved seniors we serve as we go through this season of transition on the path to restored organizational health. The Psalmist rightly declared in Psalm 30:5 that, “weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning.” I praise God for the dawn of a new day for Baptist Homes & Healthcare Ministries. Thank you for your prayers and encouragement through this season of change.

 

Together in His service,

Dr. Rodney Harrison, President/CEO